The Organizational Basis of Leisure Participation: A Motivational Exploration

by Robert A. Stebbins, University of CalgaryLeisure participation is motivated by a variety of social conditions--many of them organizational in character. Here, as in most areas of life, action is structured or organized in interpersonal relationships, small groups, social networks and grassroots associations as well a larger, more complex organizations, and still more broadly, in social worlds and social movements. Each type of organization shapes, in its own distinctive way, the values, actions, and attitudes of its members. The Organizational Basis of Leisure Participation shows that studying the social organization of leisure can be wonderfully fruitful, and lead to numerous insights about why people participate in leisure, in general, and certain leisure activities, in particular. Social organization is one of those grand social science concepts, that is most widely discussed and examined in the fields of sociology, anthropology and management, and in one way or another makes its appearance in nearly every empirical and theoretical analysis of social life. Social organization is used in this book as shorthand for the range of collectives that add social and psychological structure to leisure life, extending from dyads, small groups, and social networks through larger organizations, notably tribes, social worlds and social movements. The subfield of leisure organization, if it in fact amounts to a subfield, is not exactly brimming with theoretical frameworks and empirical research although there are some exceptions to this observation on the research side. Thus, a further contribution of this book is that it pulls together relevant theory and research into a common framework. This framework consists of the concept of social organization, the multitude of reasons why it is important for understanding leisure participation, the way free time is organized as serious and casual leisure, and the way these relate to everyday and optimal leisure lifestyles. This book challenges researchers and students alike to consider further study of the influence and structure of organizations as a basis for leisure participation, especially those studying or planning research in the fields of leisure, sociology, anthropology, social psychology, disability studies, and volunteering and citizen participation.Table of Contents Acknowledgments; Introduction Chapter 1: The Importance of Social Organization Chapter 2: Small Groups and Social Networks Chapter 3: Grassroots Associations Chapter 4: Volunteer and Leisure Service Organizations Chapter 5: Tribes Chapter 6: Social Worlds Chapter 7: Social Movements Chapter 8: Implications References, Appendix, Index